"The idea is to eat well and not die from it - for the simple reason that that would be the end of your eating" - Jim Harrison (1937-2016)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Overnight French Toast Casserole

Many thanks to Texan-by-way-of-Trinidad Deb Boopsingh for cluing me in to this recipe. Apparently, someone discovered that when you have a lot of leftover bread of just about any variety (in my case, French bread cut into 3" segments for Italian beef sandwiches, procured for Hackknife Jr.'s birthday party), it can make a tasty French toast casserole for breakfast the next day. During the week, we don't do extravagant breakfasts, but every once in a while, we get a little crazy on the weekend and this recipe clearly fits the bill. It's adapted from a website called frugalupstate.com and I found it posted on fellow blogger Mommy's Kitchen page here: Overnight French Toast Casserole.

As always, I made a few adjustments when making the dish to address various limitations. The 12 pieces of roll I had didn't fill up a 9"x13" glass pan, so I used a smaller one and cut down a bit on the butter (6 Tbsp. instead of a full stick). I followed the "alternative" method of arranging the bread; that is, instead of cutting it into strips and making two layers (with 1/2 of cinnamon-sugar mixture in between), I opted for one layer, although I didn't add flour to the batter or individually dip each piece before placing it in the dish (I did sort of roll them around in the batter after pouring it over them). Since my kids are not fans of nuts, I left the pecans out.

When I removed the casserole from the oven and gave it a try, it was good, but I wasn't exactly blown away by it. Mrs. Hackknife, however, who happens to be a French toast connoisseur (and also holds the unofficial title of "Bacon Ambassador") thought it was delicious, the keys being the caramelized brown sugar topping and the maple syrup (real stuff, not that Aunt Jemima crud) drizzled over the slices about 5 minutes before taking them out. The progeny, as expected, offered little to no attempt. Regardless, this recipe appears to have become our go-to French toast moving forward.